This new valve is the latest example of how rapidly structural heart care is evolving. The milestone procedure reflects years of planning, collaboration and expertise from teams across Providence Swedish.
Providence Swedish has achieved a major milestone in cardiovascular care, becoming the first center in Washington state and the Pacific Northwest to perform a commercial transcatheter mitral valve replacement (TMVR) using the SAPIEN M3 system.
The procedure offers a new treatment option for patients with severe mitral regurgitation who are not candidates for surgery or transcatheter repair, expanding access to advanced structural heart therapies in the region.
“This is a genuinely historic moment not just for our program, but for patients across the Pacific Northwest who have been living with severe mitral valve disease without good options,” says Sidakpal Panaich, M.D., interventional cardiologist and structural heart disease specialist.
A new option for patients with few alternatives
Mitral regurgitation occurs when the heart’s mitral value does not close properly, allowing blood to leak backward through the heart. Left untreated, it can lead to shortness of breath, fatigue, heart palpitations and fluid buildup, and can eventually lead to worsening heart failure.
For years, many patients with severe mitral regurgitation had few treatment options. While open-heart surgery can be highly effective, some patients are too high-risk because of age or other medical conditions. Others are not candidates for transcatheter repair therapies. For these patients, this technology is a gamechanger.
Providence Swedish helped pioneer transcatheter mitral valve repair in the Pacific Northwest, giving many patients a minimally invasive alternative to surgery. The M3 system builds on that legacy by offering a minimally invasive valve replacement for patients who previously had few, if any, treatment choices.
“For years, our heart team would evaluate these patients knowing what they needed, but also knowing conventional surgery carried too much risk,” explains Santanu Biswas, M.D., cardiologist and periprocedural imaging specialist. His colleague, John Chen, M.D., a cardiologist and periprocedural imaging specialist, agrees. “By performing the first commercial M3 implantation, we’re now able to offer a life-changing therapy to patients who previously had nowhere to turn,” says Dr. Chen
The M3 system replaces the mitral valve through a small puncture in the groin without opening the chest or using a heart-lung bypass machine. Recovery from this new procedure is often measured in days rather than months.
Clinical trial results showed the procedure successfully reduced mitral regurgitation in more than 95% of patients one year after treatment. Patients also experienced fewer symptoms, improved quality of life and greater physical activity.
A team effort across Providence Swedish
The milestone reflects years of planning, collaboration and expertise form teams across Providence Swedish.
“Structural heart procedures like transcatheter mitral valve replacement are among the most complex interventions in medicine,” says Nina Rashedi, M.D., cardiologist and director of echocardiography. “They sit at the intersection of interventional cardiology, cardiac surgery, echocardiographic imaging, anesthesia and critical care. What we have built at Providence Swedish is a true team.”
Sameer Gafoor, M.D., medical director of structural heart agrees. “This is a huge team effort – we thank interventional cardiologists, cardiac surgeons, imaging specialists, anesthesiologists, advanced practice providers, nurses, schedulers, coordinators, research staff, administrators and catheterization and echocardiography lab teams for making the milestone possible.”
Looking ahead
Dr. Panaich believes the M3 valve is the latest example of how rapidly structural heart care is evolving.
“We are living through a moment in cardiovascular medicine where the scope of who we can help is expanding faster than at almost any prior point in the history of the specialty,” he says. “Fifteen years ago, TAVR was new. Thirteen years ago, transcatheter mitral repair was new. Today, transcatheter mitral valve replacement is here.”
Providence Swedish is helping shape that future by participating in more than 10 structural heart research trials, giving patients access to emerging therapies while advancing cardiovascular care.
"We have patients across Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Alaska who may have been told there is nothing more that can be done for their mitral valve disease," Dr. Gafoor adds. "Those patients deserve better."
Providence Swedish is partnering with physicians throughout the region to increase awareness of transcatheter treatment options and improve access to advanced structural heart care.
"Our vision is to be the connective tissue between this technology and the patients who need it," says Dr. Gafoor, who, along with Dr. Panaich, is the lead implanters for the M3 valve at Providence Swedish. "Performing the first commercial M3 implantations in the Pacific Northwest is a milestone. But it is really the beginning of what we intend to build,” adds Dr. Panaich.
About Providence Swedish
Providence Swedish has served the Puget Sound region since the first Providence hospital opened in Seattle in 1877 and the first Swedish hospital opened in 1910. The two organizations affiliated in 2012 and today comprise the largest health care delivery system in Western Washington, with 24,000 caregivers, eight hospitals and 244 clinics throughout Western Washington – from Everett to Centralia. A not-for-profit family of organizations, Providence Swedish provides more than $545 million in community benefit in the Puget Sound region each year. The health system offers a comprehensive range of services and specialty and subspecialty care in a number of clinical areas, including cancer, cardiovascular health, neurosciences, orthopedics, digestive health and women’s and children’s care. For more information, visit providence.org/swedish.
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